Guardians
by WriterJC
Summary: Team Sheppard returns from a search & rescue mission with one of their own fighting for his life. But at least the rescue was a success. Or was it? Follows on from 'The Guardian'
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: This is the second story in the Guardian 'verse, and as such immediately follows (and somewhat intertwines with) The Guardian which is available here and in the 2010 sgagenficathon community on Livejournal. I tried very hard to balance this story in such a way that if you don't read The Guardian first you won't be completely lost, and if you did, it won't feel like a complete retread.

I'd like to apologize to those who have been waiting so patiently for this sequel that was supposed to hit the internets earlier this year. I confess that I was (and really still am) unsure of how well I did in trying to make this story stand alone. I've finally settled on what you see here.

This story was beta'd by the lovely Sharpeshussy on LJ. All mistakes are mine. Comments and criticism appreciated.

~*~ GUARDIANS ~*~

Rodney was determined to keep his eyes open. It didn't matter that this was only his second flight on the back of a ginormous black eagle or that the freakishly large creature didn't come with seatbelts. He had bigger problems, like not losing sight of John Sheppard - or at least the part of Sheppard that he could make out, which amounted to a pair of booted feet if his distance vision wasn't failing him. How exactly he was able to distinguish a pair of black military issue combat boots against the even blacker feathers of the bird that had taken the semi-conscious Sheppard, he couldn't say, but it was better than looking down.

Down was bad. Very bad. And the damn bird was still climbing, gaining more altitude and speed with each flap of its oversized wings.

Dark motion in his peripheral vision drew Rodney's attention, and he spared a glance to his right. Teyla and Ronon sat high atop their own birds looking like regal warriors, while he was leaned in close, spasmodically clutching at the thick, furry feathers. Well, form wasn't everything.

Squinting against the rushing wind, he tried to determine whether they had gained any ground on Sheppard's bird, which was still going like a giant bat out of hell.

The day had started so normal – or at least what passed for normal in Pegasus. This world should have been a rich repository of a new Ancient-developed mineral. Instead, it was populated by natives who were opposed to flight and didn't have any qualms about attacking anyone who set foot on their sacred mountain – the sacred mountain which happened to be the richest source of said mineral. Of course, two members of the science team sent to survey the planet had managed to get themselves lost.

Cue the search and rescue mission in a cloaked jumper - which pretty immediately became a crashed jumper, leaving the team stuck up in a mountain where properly functioning scanning and communication equipment were sadly non-existent.

Things had really taken a nose dive when Sheppard, already kind of pale and sickly looking, became the clutch toy of the big bird ahead of them. Both Sheppard and his new friend had then vanished into the creepy waters of the Pegasus version of Camp Crystal Lake.

Cue team panic thinking that Sheppard was dead. That was of course until three of big birds equally big friends showed up and somehow convinced Teyla that they knew where to find Sheppard _and_ their missing scientists. Rodney still wasn't sure exactly how the Teyla/bird communication thing was working because he and Ronon certainly hadn't heard a thing. But he wasn't one to argue with success.

The scientists were stuck in a deactivated room of an Ancient facility. Sheppard was another story altogether. He was a lot worse for wear – soaking wet, breathing erratically and looking for all the world like he couldn't get up off the floor under his own steam if they paid him. But he had looked around, noted that their missing scientists were back among them, and dug up the strength to get back on his feet. At least until even the John Sheppard stubbornness gene couldn't keep him going. Already pale, he had gone sheet white and collapsed on the side of the mountain.

That was when Giant Cloaking Bird had put in another appearance, apparently taking it upon itself to mount a rescue mission of its own. Which was how he and the rest of the team ended up on the backs of the other three birds for the second time in one day. When Sheppard got better, because it was unthinkable that he wouldn't, Rodney was going to make sure he knew what Rodney had gone through for him.

Rodney was dragged from his thoughts when Sheppard's feet bobbed as his bird dipped suddenly, diving down closer to tree level. The colonel's medical problems were going to be moot if the damned bird dropped him. He breathed easier as the animal leveled off then skirted the edge of the forest where it curved around the Omari village. Once past the village proper, it set out over the open fields that would lead to the gate.

Rodney might have yelped a little when his animal mimicked the movement. He clenched his fingers tighter in the thick pile of furry feathers as they lost altitude. At that height, it was hard to ignore the speed at which the ground was flying past.

His head started spinning, and he thought he was going to be sick._ Focus. No time for panic. Don't think about dying. Just focus._ His mind latched onto the landing site, taking in the general layout of the area. He began mentally working though the logistics of dialing Atlantis and getting Sheppard though. Ronon had dislocated his shoulder and wouldn't be able to help carry Sheppard very far. Rodney figured he could save them some time by calling in the emergency and having everything lined up. When your friend was tap dancing at death's door, every second counted.

Ignoring how unstable it made him feel, he forced one hand from the death grip he had on the feathers and reached for his IDC. A flash caught his eye. For a second he thought it was the angle of the sun, but then he saw the gate was already lit up. The blue rush of energy exploded outward and collapsed in the familiar pattern.

"Oh no!" This was not good. So not good. The last thing they needed was an incoming wormhole. And then his IDC flashed a caution signal. Atlantis was on the other side of that blue puddle awaiting an authorized identification code before lowering the shield . . . and the bird carrying Sheppard wasn't slowing down.

He didn't take the time to think how any of this could be possible; he input his code and tapped his radio. "Atlantis! This is McKay! We have a medical emergency! Clear the area in front of the gate, and whatever you do, don't shoot!"

Moments later, the big bird out ahead of them pressed his wings back against the sides of his body – oddly reminiscent of the way a jumper stowed its drive pods – and disappeared into the event horizon.

"Doctor McKay, please state the nature of your medical emergency." Woolsey's tinny voice seemed surreal as it registered through his ear piece. And then the bird that was carrying him arched its body and reared back. Massive black wings spread upward and out as it created resistance against the rush of passing wind.

"Can't talk now, afraid of flying!" For several very long, very horrifying seconds, Rodney was sure he was going to die. There was no way they would be able to decrease their inertia enough to land safely. And even that thought left his mind as the ground slammed toward them. He might have cried out and squeezed his eyes shut. Somehow he didn't die when animal's feet absorbed ridiculous amounts of energy, landing with little more than a rough bump.

He didn't get a moment to catch his breath; he barely managed to clamber off the thing's back what with his legs having turned to jell-o. He was still trying to find his balance when he caught Teyla and Ronon already running for the event horizon. He set off unsteadily after them, wondering if he'd really heard Teyla tell the birds thank you just before they passed through the gate.

The other side was just as he feared. Security was squared off against the bird, guns raised in the usual shoot first, ask questions later manner. Meanwhile, Sheppard was in the middle, looking mostly dead while every one else was trying to figure out what to do next.

"What part of the words 'don't shoot' don't you understand?" Rodney demanded as he ran toward his friend. Then, realizing what his initial thought had been on seeing the bird, "We'll explain everything later! Sheppard needs help! Can't you see he can't breathe?"

He wasn't sure what the marines did then. He only knew that he, Ronon, and Teyla were at the Colonel's side, encouraging him to hold on. Sheppard was a tough guy, but all Rodney could see in the other man's dazed irises was his own fear and panic reflected back at himself.

"Where the –?" He turned to yell over his shoulder hoping to move the medical part of the rescue along, and heard Jennifer's voice as the small crowd of uniforms parted.

"Coming through!" She pushed her way in, displacing Rodney, Ronon, and Teyla with her medical team. Even the big bird, already behind them in a corner, seemed to move closer in on itself.

Rodney watched as Jennifer did the usual medical voo doo that he'd seen Carson do too many times before. He could make out the low murmur as she spoke softly to Sheppard, but he couldn't make out the actual words over the pounding of his own heart. Whatever they were, he was sure they were probably meant to be encouraging, but he couldn't see that they were doing anything to help with the more immediate problem of lack of breathable air reaching his friend's lungs. He clenched his fists, wanting to demand that she do something and do it faster.

Then she was yelling to one of the members of her medical team about shock, and an oxygen mask appeared. It was strapped quickly around Sheppard's head just as someone else was pulling a gurney alongside. It was lowered close the floor and a board was removed from it and was slipped beneath his friend. Then the board, with Sheppard on top, was placed on the bed. Rodney didn't wait for an invitation, but followed it as it rolled out of the gate room.

Richard Woolsey was left standing at the railing as the gurney carrying Colonel Sheppard disappeared into the corridors leading to sickbay. What had started as a search and rescue mission for Doctors Kremer and Bowen had taken an unexpected turn and he had no one to ask what the devil was going on.

He turned a wary eye on the giant black bird still standing in the corner of the gate room, and then tracked across to the gathered security officers, their weapons half-pointed toward the floor. A couple of them looked up toward him for guidance. He hoped that the fact that he was utterly dumbfounded wasn't obvious. In either case, he didn't know what to tell them and he didn't know what his next move should be.

Perhaps a thank you was in order for the bird?

The sound of the gate activating interrupted his thoughts. He frowned, recognizing that it was an outgoing wormhole. "What are you doing?" he spun toward Chuck.

"I'm not doing anything." Chuck threw up his hands, proclaiming his innocence. "It just lit up, then started dialing itself." He gestured toward the console that was going about the business of activating symbols one by one.

"Shut it down!" Richard ordered, hearing the whoosh as the blue energy burst outward then collapsed back in on itself.

"I'm trying." Chuck dove back at the ancient control keys, pushing first one then the other. When that had no effect, he started typing commands into the lap top. "I'll try to – He looked up at Richard, but then his gaze froze on something beyond him.

"Mr. Woolsey, sir. Look!" Chuck pointed down toward the still-active gate.

Richard turned in time to see the bird's tail feathers clear the event horizon. The gate shut down behind him. Richard looked toward the security forces, still holding their weapons, then at the rest of the control room staff. There were no words he could think to say. He was very sure that he didn't want to ask out loud if a bird had just dialed the gate.

Perhaps it was time he had a word with Sheppard's team. Before he could move farther than the edge of the console, another alarm sounded.

"Unscheduled off world activation." Chuck's familiar words followed the alert.

Richard sighed inwardly and took a hesitant step back toward the balcony. Considering the last few minutes, sure a bit of trepidation was in order. "Do we have an identification?" he asked.

"It's Major Lorne's IDC," Chuck informed him.

Richard's brow furrowed. He wasn't sure whether to relax or worry. Lorne had been heading up the ground search and rescue mission for the missing doctors while Sheppard and his team had conducted a search by cloaked jumper. Speaking of jumpers, Sheppard and his team had arrived without the jumper they'd left with.

"Should I lower the shield, sir?" Chuck's question interrupted his thoughts, and now every eye in the control area was on him.

"Yes, yes. Do lower the shield," he answered hastily, hoping, but somehow doubting, that Major Lorne would be returning with the missing vessel.

The shield blinked out and Major Lorne and seven other individuals stepped through the gate into the city. Lorne's core team and the other four members who had joined them for the search headed out of the gate room, carrying their equipment with them. The missing doctors, Kremer and Bowen, were not among the arrivals. He counted twice to be sure.

"Did you give up the search?" Richard asked sharply once he reached the bottom of the steps. Two scientists and a jumper were still missing – all valuable assets. Even if the doctors had been killed, their bodies would have been brought back to the city.

Major Lorne gave him a dry look. "No need to search any farther – we know where they are."

"So you've found them?" The gate was no longer active, and unless the major had discovered a clever new way of hiding personnel, they weren't in the city.

"Actually, Sheppard's team found them. We ran into them a little after that. Sort of."

"Well? Where are they?"

"That's where things start to get a little sticky. There's been a bit of a problem."

(to be continued)


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Teyla wanted to urge the medical team to go faster. It seemed too long since John had collapsed on the Omari mountainside. She knew logically that the half-jogging pace allowed Jennifer and her team to continue to monitor John's condition as they moved through the corridors, but another, more emotional part worried that they would reach more advanced help too late.

John's skin seemed iridescent in the subdued lighting of the city's halls. He seemed worse than after they had initially gotten him through the gate; his absolute stillness struck terror in her heart. But she would not give up on him. They had come too far to lose him now.

And he was in good hands. There was no doubt in her mind that Jennifer and her team would work to the best of their ability to save his life. She knew it like she knew that her team would do anything they could as well. She was also willing to conclude that the extraordinary creature that they had met that day numbered among those who would stand ready to help her friend.

Indeed, even before she had known of the creature's existence, she had sensed something unusual about it. She recalled when they had left the city that morning in search of the missing scientists.

_"Flight, Jumper One is cloaked and ready." John spoke calmly into the radio. A small green indicator lit on the jumper's left control console, indicating that they were in manual mode. The city's automatic systems would not control the vessel during the departure. _

_"Jumper One you are cleared to proceed." Chuck's voice sounded over Teyla's radio as well as the rest of the team. At the command, Rodney punched an address into the central DHD and looked back upward as the jumper began to move. _

_They descended smoothly through the opening into the gate room proper. Teyla caught a glimpse of Lorne and his team standing well back from the area in front of the activated wormhole. Having experienced the nearness of an active yet cloaked jumper, she knew that they could hear the low-level hum that ship emitted before John nudged the yoke, sending the ship through the event horizon. _

_The period that Rodney referred to as transit passed in the blink of eye and then they were soaring into a brilliant blue sky. John hovered high above the puddle as Lorne's team passed through after them, agreeing to return to the gate by Lorne's next scheduled check-in in 12 hours. He then turned the vessel smoothly and headed off toward the village and the dark mountain rising up from the surface of the earth behind it. _

_"One thing's for sure, we won't need navigation. Our destination is pretty hard to miss." John's comment was directed toward Rodney and was spoken half under his breath. _

_Teyla quietly agreed. Locations, in her experiences, could have a feel to them – be they evil or benevolent. This mountain had a feel unlike any she'd ever felt – as if it was waiting. _

_She shook the feeling off and allowed Rodney's reply to waft over her. "Not needing navigation is a good thing, because there isn't any." She noticed peripherally that he never looked up from the data displayed on his tablet. He had been tasked with trying to boost their sensors in the hopes of getting better range to assist in finding the scientists. _

_The HUD popped up, but the usual clearly delineated symbols were missing. There was a grid with limited information display. "Damn," John muttered. "Not even a terrain map. And the range sucks." _

_"Remember what I told you about scans not working the closer we got to the mountain. Well, this is worse. We're almost on top of the giant source of interference. We're lucky we're picking up anything at all." _

_"I suppose we're going to have to do this the old fashioned way, then," John announced, tilting his head over his shoulder to include Ronon and her. _

_"What's the old fashioned way?" Ronon asked. _

_"We're going to have to look out the window. And when that doesn't work, we land and look around. They shouldn't have been able to get far. We should probably start over near where their signals disappeared."_

_Teyla leaned forward to get a better view around the seats so that she could do her part in assisting. There were still many hours left in the day. Perhaps they would find their missing members before the darkness came. _

_He took them in slowly around the side of the mountain nearest the village, before crossing over the wall far below. As they village faded out of sight, Teyla began to look in earnest, trying to distinguish any signs of human passage. The terrain beneath them looked rugged. Should John need to land the jumper, they would have to be very careful._

_In the distance as they moved farther upward along one of the slopes, mists obscured a portion of her view, but she thought she saw something glimmering faintly. Was that water? Perhaps a lake?_

_"Doesn't that look like one of those tower things like on Atlantis?" Ronon's deep voice drew her attention. _

_"Where?" Both John and Rodney spoke at once. _

_Teyla glanced toward Ronon and then tracked the direction he was pointing. It seemed to be in the direction of the body of water she thought she saw. She focused more intently. There, barely visible above the mists, she saw it. A spire. _

_"He's right!" Rodney's voice wavered with excitement as he went to work at his keyboard. "I might not be able to scan, but the communications may have fared a little better. If there's anything down there even remotely operable, the jumper should pick it up." He tapped several keys and a separate smaller section of the HUD appeared on the viewer in front of the copilot's chair. _

_"Good eye, Ronon," John said over his shoulder, then looked toward Rodney's display. The scene out of the viewer tilted as he changed course. "I'm going in." _

_The jumper descended easily into the deepening mists, white wisps billlowing quietly across the screen. As they moved farther, her guess was confirmed regarding the body of water. It was a lake, placid against an inset area along a large sloping side of the mountain. _

_"I'm getting something," Rodney announced. "It's erratic. I can't localize it, exactly. Damned sensors. It's jumping around." _

_"What is it?" John split his attention between flying and watching Rodney's screen. He dipped the jumper deeper beneath the mists. _

_"I don't know. It's … weird. Give me a second." _

_The tension was palpable as they continued, John making minute adjustments as he leaned into the controls, flying in a manner that she had heard him call 'slow and low'. They reached the near side of the gray tinged waters and arced in toward an irregular incline grown over with spindly green shrubs. The spire rose up in the distance amid the greenery. _

_"There she is," John almost whispered, caressing the controls as he made minor adjustments that kept them above the level of large rock formations which grew up out of the lake on one side. _

_Teyla gazed at the overgrown area beyond the lake and imagined the pristine lines of Atlantis beneath nature's infringement. It was so easy to see. Even Rodney was drawn away from his computer screen, staring through the forward viewer. _

_"Are you getting anything yet?" John tilted his chin toward Rodney, but kept focused on the screen. "We're getting close, now." _

_"No … just that ... Wait a minute … Oh crap!" _

_Teyla didn't have time to process Rodney's exclamation. She heard … no, felt a scream. It tore through her body, shot down her spine. Then a powerful thump sounded from the pilot's side of the jumper. Through the viewer she could see the sky tumbling as the jumper flipped out of control through the air. _

_The inertial dampers worked to compensate, but she felt much of the vessel's roiling in the pit of her stomach. She could hear no sound, though she could see her friend's mouths moving. John was working frantically, trying to get the ship back under control while yelling something to Rodney. _

_Rodney was doing what he could while trying to hold on to his computer and the console at the same time. Ronon was just holding on. _

_There was nothing she could do as the rocky side of the mountain filled the viewer. John fought it, but in the end, it didn't matter. Sound returned with stunning force. She caught the barest sound of something being viciously ripped from the jumper, before another more pressing noise intruded. On its heels, everything abruptly slammed to black._

Teyla now understood that it was the bird she had felt and heard in those moments before the crash. Amid her own adrenaline laden feelings of survival, she realized that there had been another emotion outside of her own. That emotion was horror interlaced with guilt.

"What happened?" Jennifer's voice intruded on Teyla's memories.

"Jumper crash," Ronon volunteered gruffly from Teyla's left.

Rodney snorted. "It was the jumper crash from hell. One moment there were clear skies, the next we slammed into nothing. The jumper was totaled. It probably rolled like four times. It's a miracle any of us got out alive."

Jennifer's gaze locked onto Rodney as he spoke as if trying to decipher the type of injuries such a crash might cause. "Is that how he ended up like this?" she asked for clarification.

"I think he might have busted his ribs," Ronon added.

Teyla released a silent sigh and stepped in to offer more information. "He was also pulled beneath the surface of a lake. The temperature was quite cold."

"How long was he under?"

Teyla shared a look with Rodney and Ronon. "He did not come up from the lake. We found him in an underwater facility that was some distance from the place he initially entered the water. I feel certain that he took some quantity of water into his lungs."

"Oh, and it wasn't an ordinary lake," Rodney hastened to add. "The water had some pretty weird properties. We took some samples." He began rummaging through his back pack. "I'll get someone from Geology to check them out."

Jennifer nodded, and then tapped at her radio. "Sally, have the scanner ready when we get there. Have it set up for near drowning and Colonel Sheppard's profile. We don't have a second to waste." She then began issuing commands to the rest of her team, her movements having taken on an increased urgency. "Kelly, get a complete blood work up, and …."

As they turned onto the corridor that would take them to the main infirmary entrance, Teyla saw John's chest jerk. One of the medical team called out a warning.

"On his side, get him on his side!" Jennifer's team closed in around John, nearly blocking him from view as they rolled him slightly away from them. The oxygen mask was pulled up and off his head, while his body continued its weak jerky motions. John seemed lost in a wave of uncontrollable gagging coughs.

Amid the coughing, he pulled in long painful sounding wheezes. Then suddenly it all stopped and John went completely limp.

"Respiratory arrest!" someone yelled.

"Crap! We need to bag 'em! Move!"

John was turned onto his back in one motion as someone put a different mask over his face with an additional attachment. The brightly colored end of the mask stood in stark contrast to the now sickly gray of John's skin. One of the techs squeezed the bag at the end of the oxygen mask even as the gurney moved forward. The medical team no longer seemed to be jogging; they were running.

Jennifer threw a look toward them as they finally reached the infirmary. She seemed to take in their conditions in a glance, reminding Teyla that all of them had suffered some effects from the crash. Ronon still held his arm up across his chest in an attempt to immobilize his dislocated shoulder. The various lacerations that Rodney had received were angry and red, but no longer bleeding. Teyla wasn't certain how she might appear to Jennifer, but her cheek was sore and felt swollen to touch. She had no doubt that the whole of her body would be aching the next day.

"I'm sure I don't have to ask you all to stick around. Marie will see to your injuries." With that she turned and rushed off after John's gurney.

Author's Note: I apologize for the length of time between chapters of this story. I'm still very unsure about it, though I do have more written. I need to get it out of my system, so I'm going to just post it and let you guys decide.

In other news, has anyone pondered the number of lead characters named John? I've been thinking of fandoms I've enjoyed and can name four right off the top. John Sheppard, John Carter, John Crighton, John Gage ... what about you?


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Ronon winced at the steadily increasing sensation that snaked down his shoulder and across his back. It hurt a lot more than it should at this point.

He looked at the sling that the medical staff insisted he wear, half expecting his arm to be red from the sudden heat that it seemed to be generating. But it looked normal, making a lie out of what his nerve endings were telling him. When he thought the burning tingle was going to have him turning and heading back toward the examination room, it leveled off, settling in at a just manageable level.

Maybe he was getting old.

He stared at the arm a few moments longer then shifted his gaze to the blister pack of pills in the hand of his good arm. For the pain, Marie had said. Sheppard and McKay always said that the good drugs came in bottles or an IV. He doubted these would fall into that category, but he thought about taking them anyway.

Forget old. Maybe he was getting soft. He'd suffered a lot worse while he was a runner, and there had been nothing for the pain. But then, he had friends here, friends who cared about one another; friends who tried to alleviate pain where they could. So, not so much soft as lucky.

He shoved the medications into a pocket and continued his progress toward the infirmary's waiting area. He knew based on the activity through a door at the far end of the section that they were still working on Sheppard – the friend who had brought him into this city and gave him a new home on Atlantis.

The birds. The birds had brought them all back here, getting Sheppard to needed medical attention. But Ronon couldn't help but feel that it was the animal's fault that Sheppard was in life threatening condition in the first place.

After the jumper and the bird had collided midair, the small Atlantean ship had been in pieces, but the team's injuries had been manageable. The bird itself hadn't been doing so well ….

_Gooseflesh appeared on Ronon's arms as he and Teyla halted at the top of an outcropping overlooking the large __gray lake. It felt like the temperature was dropping. He could see white puffs of air leaving Teyla's mouth as she spoke. _

"_Let's go this way." She gestured downward in the direction of the water. The decline led to a wide section of medium gray sand. Sparse green vegetation dotted the sand at intervals all the way out to the edge of what he suddenly realized was crystal clear water. The color of the sand made the lake look gray at first glance. _

_"I'm following you," Ronon replied as she started out again, moving smoothly over the rough terrain. _

_Teyla came to an abrupt stop __ halfway across. _

_"What is it?" Ronon whispered, instantly on alert. He held his blaster one handedly. Sudden adrenaline dulling the ache in his shoulder._

_She cocked her head to the side, carefully scanning the area. He watched and waited. _

_As the moments dragged on, __Ronon crept farther out, then gestured her attention to the expanse of sand off to their right. The green grass-like plants grew there as well, but the sand was unmarred. Not so with the section they had been headed into. There were deep gauges and farther along to the left was part of one of the jumper's drive pods. It had likely caused the damage. Maybe that was what had caught her attention. _

_Teyla remained tense, waiting. He saw her draw in a deep breath and her eyes took on a far away look. He glanced about, watching her back. He wished he could see something out of place aside from the broken piece of the jumper. _

_He probably shouldn't have been surprised when she spoke. He didn't need to be told that she wasn't talking to him._

_"We know you are here," she said softly. A small reassuring smile appeared on her face as she took a step forward. "We mean you no harm." _

_Ronon silently followed her lead, his weapon still held loosely in one hand. __It didn't matter if he was confused. He had learned to trust her instincts completely. _

_"Where are you? Are you hurt?" _

_Ronon raised his brows and looked askance. Teyla met his guess briefly and shrugged. There was confusion in her eyes that wasn't comforting. _

_Ronon's blaster arm shot upward as the waters at the very edge of the shore began to splash like someone had thrown something into them. _

_Teyla raised her hand stilling his motion. _

_Ronon glared hard at her. There was something out there. Something that he couldn't see. Still, he lowered the weapon slightly at her urging. __ The splashing grew, revealing a faint outline of … something that he couldn't quite make out. _

_And then something happened and suddenly he could see it. It was a bird, a big one with layers and layers of shiny black feathers. __One large powerful wing was stretched out across the sand, its tip draping into the water at the edge of the lake. The other wing was twisted and buckled under the barrel shaped body. Bird blood leaked in a sticky mess from gouges along its length._

_The black feathers lightened to a pale gray at the feather covered head. One large dark pupil focused on Teyla. It blinked slowly once. Ronon could almost imagine it was gathering its strength, and then it began to flop its large body closer to the water. It wasn't doing a very good job of it. _

_While Teyla continued to talk in soft soothing tones to the bird, Ronon decided that was likely something Sheppard might want to know about. Besides, back up wasn't a bad idea since he only had one good arm. He contacted them over a static-filled radio connection. _

_"I do not understand," she was still talking out loud to the bird when he signed off. _

_The bird struggled some more in a burst of energy, splashing the water in a high arc so that it splattered across the rest of its body. The energy stopped almost as soon as it started. The wing flopped into the water and didn't move again. The big eye started to droop. _

_"Ronon, it's the water. I think it needs the water." __Teyla set a path around the bird toward the edge of the water. She first emptied then filled her canteen. _

_"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Ronon eyed the giant creature. Sometimes wounded animals were the most dangerous. _

_"I am certain," she insisted. "This creature is sentient and it needs our help." She moved right up to the creature with the water. Its body was nearly as large around as she was tall. She had to reach up on tip toe to dump the water over the bird. _

_It turned its head, directing its damaged wing toward her. She immediately responded, emptying the next canteen full over the injured area. On a mission, she ran back to the lake for more. _

_Ronon looked between her urgent motions and the animal. He was torn. She would be at this all day if she kept on by herself. As he looked on, something registered in his vision. The damaged wing was healing over right before his eyes. _

_"Teyla! Look!__" He pointed. _

_"What is it?" Teyla stood from the water's edge and rushed toward him; her gaze followed to where he was pointing. A broad grin spread across her face, and then she laughed. _

_"You are most welcome." A twinkle lit her eyes as she spoke to the bird. _

_Ronon made his decision. __He shoved his gun into his holster and followed when Teyla went back down to the edge of the water. He scooped some into his own canteen and poured it over his dislocated shoulder. It didn't do a thing; the arm still ached. _

_With a sigh, he stood from the edge and followed after Teyla to help her. McKay and Sheppard would be here before long, anyway. _

_He was halfway to the animal when it changed position. Within moments, it was upright, standing atop a pair of huge talons. At full height, it was easily twelve feet tall. The wings stretched out to full span, a good twenty five feet. The injured one didn't look as sturdy as the other, but it was no longer warped like it had been when they first found it. _

_Unease settled over him. He didn't like any living thing that stood that much taller than him. In the next moment, Sheppard and McKay appeared at the top of the low hill leading down toward the lake. McKay stumbled to a halt. It took Sheppard a few additional steps to come to a stop, by then he was halfway down the decline. _

_Effortlessly, the bird took to the air on powerful wings. It was an amazing sight to behold. It flapped its huge wings twice, then glided toward the rise and his two approaching friends._

_"Sheppard!" Ronon dropped the canteen in favor of his blaster. The gun was a familiar friend, and was up and pointing toward the large retreating bird, the control thumbed to stun along the way. But by the time it was aimed properly, Sheppard was caught in a pair of powerful talons and taken up into the misty sky._

_"Ronon, no!" Teyla's scream reached him, just as he made the decision not to fire. _

_He dropped his arm with a growl of frustration and sorrow. It was too late. The bird was too high, and if it should drop Sheppard from that height, he'd be dead by the time he hit the ground. He couldn't take that risk. _

_He was forced to watch, helpless, with McKay and Teyla while the bird flew out over the waters. His heart followed as the creature plunged deep in the silvery colored lake, taking their friend under with him. _

Ronon blinked the memory away.

If he could have gotten to his blaster more quickly, if he hadn't been so busy trying to help Teyla heal the bird, maybe he would have noticed when it made a run on Sheppard. Maybe he would have been able to stop it before it plucked his friend from the ground and plunged into the lake with him.

"You done already?"

Ronon looked at McKay seated in a corner of the area. "Yeah. They gave me some pills." He withdrew the bubble pack in question from his pocket and held it toward the scientist.

Rodney examined it briefly, the sniffed. "They gave me the same thing. Glorified ibuprofen."

"Not the good stuff," Ronon agreed, knowing where this conversation was going.

"Anything about Sheppard yet?" he asked. He knew Keller hadn't come out, but that didn't mean McKay hadn't gotten information somehow. He might have harassed the doctor who had examined him. Or, considering he was doing something on his computer, he could have been hacking his way toward some answers.

McKay stopped typing and looked up him with a worried gaze. "No. Nothing. Maybe that's a sign that, you know, he's going to be okay, that they've got something to work with."

Ronon grunted more than spoke as he dropped into a seat across from his teammate. "He'll be fine." This was Sheppard. What else was there to say?

"Yeah." McKay went back to typing, then paused, answering the question Ronon was planning to ask next. "They took Teyla down to the auxiliary scanner. The one here was a little busy with …." McKay never actually looked up from the keyboard as he spoke, and just went back to typing once he was finished.

Ronon grunted again as he looked the other man over, satisfying himself that he was okay. They had all taken a few bumps and bruises in the crash.

McKay shot him an uncomfortable glance. "I'm trying to see if I can dig anything out of the data I found in the mountain facility. It's not a lot, and it doesn't begin to scratch the surface of what was actually there, but if . . . ."

Ronon lost the train of where McKay was going. It wasn't that he didn't care; it was just that databases and computer codes and typing on keyboards weren't his thing. He was a man of action, a warrior. He looked up at the sound of approaching footfalls. He recognized them as Woolsey's before the man rounded the corner.

"I was sure I would find you here," Woolsey said, looking down at the two of them. Even though he had the advantage, he still seemed stiff and uncomfortable. Ronon thought he always seemed that way, even when he was joking.

"Where else would we be?" Ronon asked.

Woolsey pursed his lips at the question, and then ignored it. His expression shifted slightly, an edge of concern appearing. "Have you …?"

"Nothing yet," Rodney responded.

The balding man gave a short nod, and then squared his shoulders. "Well, unfortunately, I am about to disturb your vigil. Major Lorne's group just returned with a report. Doctors Kremer and Bowen have been taken captive by the Omari people. They are to stand trial for trespassing into Guardian territory."

A/N: Sorry for the delay in getting this chapter up. Took a little more editing than I thought. As penance, I'll be sure to put up anotehr chapter later today. Thanks to all who have commented. It really does help.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

In the space between one moment and the next, John gasped. It was as if fire and ice were shooting through his lungs, burning him alive from the inside out. The flame became an inferno, consuming him, stealing his ability to draw another breath.

Light joined the torment as his eyes shot wide to a kaleidoscope of colors and faces. They were all yelling, calling to him at once. He was struggling, trying desperately to move, to escape the pain and the chaos. Voices and electronic alarms closed in in terrifying intensity.

He needed to make sense of what was happening to him so he could get away. He needed to escape fast. He needed the ever-growing pain to stop before he lost everything.

Another sensation reached him. It was a cool burning that was at odds with the initial pain. It started in his arm and seemed distant at first but went straight to his brain. On some level he recognized it. He knew this feeling. It brought with it a comforting lassitude that took the edge off of his frenetic nerve endings.

His thoughts returned and he identified the trip-hammer beeping of a heart monitor over laid with Keller's voice. Something tugged at his side, bringing with it the return of memory. As if watching a movie screen from the wrong side, he recalled what had brought him to this point.

_One moment, John had been staring at the biggest bird he'd seen outside of a science fiction movie, the next he was grabbed in a pair of giant talons like the day's lunch special. By the time the requisite __oh crap!__ managed to form in his mind, he was far out over the lake. _

_He started to struggle. The bird responded by doing something with its wings, enveloping him as it started a steep dive toward the surface. They hit the brutally cold surface and kept going, diving deeper and deeper. Nothing John did broke the animal's iron grip. He remained pinned against the giant body, his heart rate galloping toward inevitable panic. _

_Lungs on fire from lack of oxygen, he searched the watery darkness for something, anything, that might give him even a hope of escape. But he was weakening. His struggles became more jerky and unfocused. Spots flickered before his eyes. _

_The spots grew to a beautiful vista. Snow capped peaks rose above a lush green valley, a lazy river meandered along far below. The only sounds were of brisk winds rushing by. He could feel his powerful wings flapping, allowing him to gain more altitude as he climbed higher and higher. The world belonged to him. He could go anywhere, fly anywhere. Somewhere deep in the back of his mind he wondered if this was the universe's way of softening the blow, by giving him a vision of something he loved. All things considered, it wasn't a bad way to go. _

_He gave himself over to the hallucination. The breath, when he took it, wasn't completely against his control. On some level he expected the pain of the water firing through his sinuses and into his body. He drew in deeply once. And again. And again. The pain and the hard work of it was immaterial, the action itself was like heaven. The haziness in his brain cleared. He was back in the grasp of his feathery cocoon, and he was breathing water!_

_As the elation shot through him at the realization that he wasn't dead, the water pressure around him changed. The bird arched upward and they broke through the surface of the water. He had a brief glimpse of a large darkened room that was reminiscent of a larger version of Atlantis' jumper bay. Then, the onslaught of actual atmosphere hit. The delicate balance of whatever miracle had happened in the water ended and John felt himself suffocating under incredible pressure in his lungs. _

_Everything went a little hazy as he started retching and gagging violently. His entire world became the painful struggle for survival as he fought for each breath. The more his body worked to expel the fluid that had invaded his lungs, the greater the pain. It became a bitter cycle until finally the coughs lessened. _

_He found himself lying on a hard surface, curled half on his side. He opened his eyes a fraction to find that someone had turned up the lights. Not a lot as it was still dimmer than what he was used to, but the familiar blue of Ancient lighting was evident. He even felt the accompanying tickle of ATA. _

_He lifted his head a bit to get a better view. The room still had the feel of a larger jumper bay. If he wasn't mistaken, the berths on the upper level were big enough for a couple of jumpers. Instead of an opening in the floor that would lead to the control room on Atlantis; this place had a large opening that no doubt led back into the bottom of the lake. _

_He turned his head a little farther and found that his new friend the bird was settled just behind his head, silently waiting. The creature was so quiet it was eerie. It made John's panting breaths seem louder and more obvious. _

_"Thanks … for not … killing me … yet," John managed weakly, ending with another bout of painful coughing. Obviously whatever had happened between being grabbed and trying to breathe lake water hadn't done his ribs any good. Each ragged breath was a struggle. With the drop in adrenaline, the pain was heading quickly into unmanageable territory. _

_"Hope … not hungry," John said, looking cautiously up at the creature. He was at its mercy until he could get his legs back under him. Never mind standing, he would settle for being able to sit up. He just needed a minute to rest before he tried. Getting warm and dry wouldn't hurt either. _

_With several talon-clicking steps, the bird moved around in front of John, lessening some of the neck strain of having to look back and up at it. He would have thanked it if he thought it had done it on purpose. He stared considering into the large dark eyes that stared right back at him. If he was about to make John his lunch, he was surely going about it strangely. _

_John blinked in confusion when the bird extended the tip of its wing toward him. John wondered bizarrely if this was the avian version of the fist bump. "All right," he muttered softly, and reached a hand out toward the animal. _

_It was like connecting unexpectedly with the control chair. _

_Brilliant images slammed through his mind, moving so fast that he could barely keep up. He saw himself soaring over the mountains searching for the source of a familiar sound. It was a sound he hadn't heard in so long it caused him to rush ahead too quickly. And then, suddenly, he slammed hard into something. Pain exploded in his wing before he began to fall toward the ground. He saw the little ship, the one he had been searching for as it suddenly appeared, no longer invisible to his sight. It was terrifying to realize that he had not lived up to his duty. He had awaited the return of the guardian for so long and now he had failed. _

_The images and feelings lessened in intensity as they went through what had happened when Teyla and Ronon helped with his wounds. And then he saw himself and Rodney appear on the scene. _

_John let go, disengaging himself from the literal bird's eye view of the events of the day. A deep inhale caught him by surprise as he worked to clear more of the liquid from his body. He wrapped his arms tight around his mid-section and squeezed his eyes shut in an attempt to dull the sharp ache. _

_When it was over, he lay for several moments, gathering his strength before looking back at the bird. It was still waiting. He had a deep sense that this creature was somehow tied to this Ancient facility in ways that they had never even dreamed up. But none of that was going to matter if he died here and Rodney never found out about it. He also had another mission he needed to complete. _

_"I need … my friends … and some others … who are … missing." He dragged his hand back toward the wing and brought images of Ronon, Teyla, and Rodney to mind. He tried to communicate as best he could that he needed to be taken back to them. He thought too of Bowen and Kremer, trying to get over the point they were missing. _

_The images that followed were slower and more distant. It appeared to be a memory of Kremer and Bowen climbing along the mountain before entering a cave. _

_John was forced to let go again as an especially sharp pain tightened around his mid-section. "I … need … my … friends," he whispered once the worst of the pain passed, hoping that big bird meant big ears. Though he wasn't sure if his ribs or lungs could take another round of breathing that water, he really didn't want to die down here cold and alone. _

He hadn't died there. Somehow his friends had gotten him out.

How had they done that?

John blinked slowly as the memory slipped quietly from the forefront of his mind. The faces and sounds around him returned but at a significantly subdued level, and then they also began to fade. He gave in to the need to blink once more and would not recall opening his eyes again.

oooOOOooo

Evan looked around the conference room table at the members of Colonel Sheppard's team – sans Colonel Sheppard. They looked considerably rougher than they had when they had left in the jumper just hours earlier. Teyla had a huge bruise on the side of her cheek and smaller cuts along her hairline, McKay looked like he'd been in a fight, and Ronon wore a sling and moved stiffly as if any motion caused him pain. Obviously the airborne part of the search and rescue mission hadn't gone as smoothly as they had hoped. Good thing he didn't put any stock in the Omari superstition about the sky being cursed by the Guardian.

"I've brought everyone together for a joint debrief so that all of the facts can quickly be gleaned on this matter." Woolsey was seated at the head of the table with the obligatory portfolio and stack of papers spread in front of him. "Doctor McKay, Ronon, Teyla, perhaps you could start us off as you returned first. That way we can get the events in the appropriate order."

For a moment the three looked amongst themselves. Evan knew when the decision was made that Teyla would speak first. By the time she completed her tale, with the occasional addition by Rodney and Ronon, he understood why. It was too fanciful for even the Pegasus Galaxy: Giant cloaking birds that could mentally dial a gate. Only Teyla could pull off that level of … unusual without being look at cockeyed.

As it was, Woolsey barely blinked, and even agreed with McKay's idea that a bird could dial a gate, stating that one of the birds in question had in fact done just that before leaving Atlantis.

Evan began to wonder just why it was that Shepard's team had all the fun. His team had rotated on and off the Omari home world for the past three weeks watching over the scientist there and hadn't seen one odd thing. Sheppard's team had been there for less than a day and the world just opened up and revealed its secrets. It really wasn't fair. But then again, Sheppard was lying in the Infirmary and his team looked as if they had gone through the ringer.

"Major Lorne?" Woolsey turned to him for his part of the story.

Evan fell easily into the step by step telling. Not much had happened until the end anyway. "We thought we picked up Doctors Kremer and Bowen's subcutaneous transmitter signals out in the northwest portion of the search grid. The signal was intermittent and a static filled mess, pretty much like everything that close to the mountain. But the fact that we were getting anything at all meant that they were close. So, we –"

"Wait a minute. You actually pinpointed them?" McKay pierced him with an accusatory stare. "We left them on the mountain, probably pretty near your position. If you could pick up anything they had to be within a few dozen meters."

"Fifty meters, to be precise," Evan shot back. "But as you well know, working through the natural interference near the mountain is next to impossible. Knowing they were close and knowing the precise direction are two very different things."

He got that McKay didn't like the fact that the scientists had been captured after Sheppard's team had left them alone in what ended up being hostile territory, but this wasn't the about a blame game, this was about communicating all of the necessary intel so that they could all move on to the next step – getting their people back.

McKay looked like he wanted to argue, but continued in a subdued tone. "Sheppard was having trouble breathing and there were only the four birds. Bowen and Kremer weren't injured, and they insisted that we go with Sheppard. We thought …."

"No one's arguing your choice, Dr. McKay." Evan felt for him. "I might have done the same in your position."

He refocused on Woolsey and continued. "Our smaller team split up to cover more ground, then we heard a scream. Sounded female, but was abruptly cut off. We searched and found evidence of a struggle, but neither Bowen or Kremer were found.

"It was actually a team of Omari warriors who approached us, said that they had found our people in a restricted territory and were holding them until the elders could question them. They then politely – at poison tipped arrow point – asked us to leave. We were escorted to the gate."

"Why didn't you fight?" Ronon asked flatly. "Your weapons are superior to theirs."

"Because, last I checked the military was directed to play nice with the Omari because the SGC wants to establish mining rights on their world. So, like good little soldiers, we left."

"And we appreciate that," Woolsey stated, looking between Evan and Ronon. Ronon didn't look impressed.

"The Omari are a reasonable people," Teyla spoke into the growing tension. "They will not act rashly as long as we respect their stewardship of their world. They also will not hold the offenses of two individuals against the entire expedition."

"What exactly does that mean?" Woolsey asked.

Evan had to agree with him. Kremer and Bowen might have been stupid enough to trespass onto what the Omari considered sacred territory, but that didn't mean they needed to receive whatever punishment tribal custom deemed appropriate. These were people who considered a mountain their guardian. Despite being dark, imposing and rising seemingly out of nowhere, it hadn't prevented them from being culled like the rest of the galaxy.

Teyla's weighted sigh didn't give him a lot of confidence. "It means that what Kremer and Bowen did will not mar their consideration of a mining treaty with us. However, if they detect a pattern of disregard for their beliefs or sense that we do not take them seriously, any chance of a treaty will be irreparably damaged."

Woolsey's face froze. Evan wasn't sure what was so important about the mineral that half the scientists on the base were drooling over, but obviously Woolsey had an inkling. "So what you're saying is –"

"We can never tell them that we took a cloaked jumper into their precious mountain," Rodney said dryly.

"We have to lie," Ronon clarified.

"We need to … avoid the topic," Teyla hedged. "If asked directly, I would recommend being truthful. The Omari also value honesty. Doctors Kremer and Bowen are aware that the three of us were inside the mountain. The Omari may already be aware of our transgression."

Evan was liking this less and less, but Teyla had a valid point. From the time he'd spent in Doctor Kremer's presence, he'd formed an impression. Not unlike a few other scientists in the city, the man was arrogant almost to a fault. He hadn't had much regard for the beliefs of the Omari. He could be working under his own agenda by then.

Woolsey looked distinctly uncomfortable. "How do we approach them?"

"According to Omari tradition, there must be a cooling down period between both parties of a sunset. At the coming of the next sunrise, we may return with gifts to discuss the matter."

"Gifts?" McKay demanded. "They have our people and we are supposed to bring them gifts?"

"We are the ones who speak in behalf of the offenders. We must show that we recognize our place in the discussion."

"What sort of gifts?" Woolsey asked.

"Clothing items for the coming cool season would be most appreciated. Perhaps also something for their children."

"Very well. If you will handle the gathering of the necessary items. We'll leave in …"

"Eleven hours." Teyla provided the correct time frame.

"Eleven hours," Woolsey affirmed.

Evan was preparing to get up from the table, his mind already busy deciding who he would tap for this mission. Definitely expedition veterans who were more open minded. Checking in on the Colonel was also on his agenda. And he really needed to -

"There is … one other thing," Teyla's softly spoken words caused everyone at the table to pause.

"Yes?" Woolsey asked.

"There can be no military. Just you and I and perhaps one other."

Evan settled back down. This meeting was far from over.


	5. Chapter 5

CHAPTER FIVE

"He's breathing on his own – that's something, but he has some pretty significant internal injuries, and there is still a huge opportunity for infection. He's not out of the woods yet."

"What do you mean he's not out of the woods, yet?" Rodney stared at Jennifer, feeling almost hurt. This was John Sheppard. They'd done their part and gotten him to care. It was John's duty to pull through, to beat the odds, to live another day to worry them all over again.

Jennifer stared back at him, but her tone gentled. "I mean, Rodney, that Colonel Sheppard is a very sick man and he has a long recovery ahead of him." She turned and encompassed the rest of the team in her next statement.

"You're all welcome to go in and see him for a few minutes. He should be settled in by now. I very seriously doubt he'll wake up, but please remember, he needs his rest." With that, she turned and walked off, leaving them to look worriedly among themselves.

"John is a fighter. He will no doubt surprise us all with a quick recovery." Teyla's words were meant to encourage, Rodney knew. But if words or emotions were all that were needed, they would still have Elizabeth, and Grodin and Gall and so many others who were lost to them. And if wishes were horses, the east pier would be over run with thoroughbreds.

"Let's go see him." Ronon patted Rodney's arm, then started off toward the curtain.

Sheppard looked only marginally better than he'd looked when they had initially brought him to the infirmary. His skin was still pale and sickly. A nasal canula ran beneath his nostrils and around his ears. Rodney could barely bring himself to look, but did manage to glance downward at Sheppard's naked chest and to the obvious bandage and place along his side where a tube had been inserted. He absolutely refused to look any lower to where it connected to a bag. It was unnatural and if he saw anything more he might lose his lunch – that is if he'd had any to lose.

"He looks cold," was what he managed to say out loud. It was true he realized, and immediately wanted to pull the thin blankets up higher to cover the tubes and his bare chest and arms.

"Perhaps it is so the medical staff can more closely monitor his injuries," Teyla suggested in her usual logical manner. But Rodney could tell that she wasn't happy with what she saw either.

"How could it possibly be a good thing for a patient to be cold?" Rodney asked of no one in particular. "Aren't doctors the ones who started that whole being cold makes you sick rumor?"

Sheppard sighed then, and his face twitched. For a brief insane moment, Rodney thought Sheppard might be agreeing with him. Then his eyelids began to twitch and flutter.

"I think he's waking up," Rodney whispered, studying the other man's face closely. Though his movements were happening in slow motion, there were definite signs of wakefulness.

"No. He's just dreaming." Teyla obviously did not agree with Rodney's opinion of their friend's status. But he had seen the man waking up dozens and dozens of times. Of course he knew what to look for.

"Sheppard, you awake?" he asked of his sleeping friend.

"Rodney! If he is not awake, then you should not wake him. Jennifer said that he will need his rest." Teyla managed to scold him in a stage whisper. Rodney wondered why that made him feel like a recalcitrant child.

An abortive indrawn breath from Sheppard saved him having to answer his own mental question. The Colonel's face screwed up in a pain filled wince as he slowly released the breath he'd taken in. Obviously he was still in some pain, even with whatever Jennifer was pumping into his IV.

A soft sound that might have been a sigh and might have been a curse found its way past Sheppard's lips as he struggled to open his eyes. He made it look like his eyelids weighed a ton. Eventually, they were able to see slits of his irises as he focused on them.

"John, it is so good to see you awake," Teyla closed in on the bed and put a hand over the hand that didn't have something attached to it. Rodney was impressed that she managed to do it without messing with any of the other wires and tubes that were going places he didn't want to think about.

"It's good to be awake," Sheppard said in a breathy whisper. "Thanks for finding me. Thought I was a goner there for a minute." He sounded like he was running a marathon. Uphill. In slow motion. It made Rodney tired just hearing him.

He hated it, but maybe Jennifer was right about how sick John was.

"We would not have given up," Teyla said the words that Rodney and Ronon wouldn't say – mostly because they wouldn't have to because Teyla would say it for them. But that didn't make them any less true. They wouldn't have given up on him.

"Also, we had some help," she added, with a significant gravity in her voice.

Rodney rolled his eyes and stepped forward. It was time to end the mush. "Maybe next time you decide to get kidnapped by a giant bird you should consider giving us a heads up. You know, in the interest of preparedness and what not."

"I'll try to remember that," Sheppard managed. Rodney saw the small twinkle of amusement that lit in his friend's tired eyes. It brought a small smug smile to his face. This was more like it.

"You know, while you've been laying here being waited on, I've discovered some interesting things about the facility in the mountain." Rodney had wanted to talk to Sheppard about what he'd discovered almost from the moment he'd discovered it. And right now he was on a roll; and there was no time like the present. Besides who knew how long it would be before the man work up next time.

"It's a giant database," John said, stealing his thunder. "The birds went to different worlds to gather intel. They could download it to a person or the database as memories."

"Wait – how'd you know that?" Rodney stared at him, going from stunned to annoyed. Had Zelenka somehow sneaked in here ahead of him and leaked the news to Sheppard just to screw with him?

"I experienced it." John's voice softened and he blinked a little too slowly to be awake for much longer.

"Oh. Well, then, did you know that they have the ability to cloak?" Rodney felt challenged to come up with something that Sheppard didn't already know.

"Yes, Rodney," John breathed the response.

"How about _why_ they can cloak?" Rodney asked, but didn't wait for the answer. There was no way Sheppard knew this one. "It's because it's in their genetic makeup. The Ancient's introduced the ability into their genome. There are other smaller mountains all over the planet. It looks as if the Ancients were experimenting with ways of cloaking entire planets!"

His words fell on deaf ears. Ronon and Teyla were glaring at him, and John's eyes were closed. Then suddenly, he opened them and focused on Rodney.

"Wow," he said belatedly, and put forth an obvious effort to focus on the three of them.

"Wow is right," Rodney said, feeling somewhat triumphant. There was more information where that had come from. "Did you also know that –

"We will leave you now," Teyla spoke softly to Sheppard, but her eyes pierced Rodney with silent censure.

"But, I'm not done!" Rodney defended himself. Didn't she know this was the kind of thing Sheppard liked when he was stuck in sickbay? It gave him something to think about, kept his mind busy. "This is valuable –"

"It can wait," Teyla was firm.

"But …."

"Come on, McKay," Ronon's deep voice sounded.

"Fine." Rodney followed as they filed back out into the main infirmary.

"We should have told him," Ronon said solemnly.

"Told him what?" Rodney asked, even though he thought he knew what Ronon was getting at.

Ronon didn't respond, just shot him a look.

"It would be pointless to tell him," Rodney insisted. "He'd just lay here and worry about it and blame himself."

"If there is any blame to be had then we are all at fault. We all agreed; we all decided to go with the Colonel and to leave Doctors Kremer and Bowen to find their own way back to the gate. We were all worried about him."

"How's he going to feel when he finds out you went back unarmed, with no one but Woolsey and Lorne?" Ronon shot the question toward Teyla.

"I will not be unarmed," Teyla replied. "I simply will not be carrying a firearm. Besides, the Omari are a peaceful people. We will be able to come to an agreement."

Rodney shared a worried look with Ronon. He didn't have the confidence in the Omari that she had. Maybe they should have told Sheppard after all.

Ronon rotated his shoulder, carefully testing its strength as he sauntered into the infirmary. The lights were dimmed and there wasn't a lot going on. Most of the equipment stood unattended. Soft light did spill from the office at the far side of the infirmary. That was Keller's space.

He could hear frantic whispering, but didn't bother trying to figure out what they were saying. Instead, he turned and headed in the opposite direction to the curtained area where they had placed Sheppard's bed.

Having left the control room where Teyla had been busy getting ready to head back to Omari with Woolsey and Lorne, he felt the need to make contact with his team leader. Even if his team leader happened to do little more than lay there unconscious.

Teyla wouldn't be moved on leaving him behind; insisted that the Omari might see it as an act of aggression since he had been vocal about using force to get onto the mountain. He hadn't realized the scouts had been listening, and tried to convince her that he had just been kidding with Sheppard.

She had given him one of those looks, then told him that she would be fine. Sheppard would have fought harder against letting her go without more back up. Especially since she was still recovering from the jumper accident the day before. He had seen that she moved stiffly even though she wasn't obvious about it.

Ronon rotated his arm again, then frowned as he put it through the full range of motion. When he'd woken that morning, the sling that he'd gone to bed with was on the floor and his injured arm was wrapped around his pillow.

There was no pain whatsoever. It was as if it had never been injured. He grunted. Those pills that Marie had given him worked even better than the good stuff.

"You're here early," Keller spoke from behind him, interrupting his motion. "I've only just gotten here myself, and I was going in to check on the Colonel." She tilted her head in the direction of the curtained area while the night nurse stood silently behind her. "Arm bothering you?" she asked as the nurse moved past them both.

"No, it's fine," Ronon responded.

Keller turned and frowned curiously at him. Before she could speak, the nurse drew her attention. "Doctor Keller!"

The odd tone in the nurse's voice drew Ronon's attention, too and he slipped through the curtain ahead of Keller. The nurse stood on the other side of Sheppard's bed. She looked anxious, practically dancing in place with nerves.

He frowned, then looked down at Sheppard. Everything appeared to be in place – he took an extra moment of observation to be sure.

"He's looking a lot better," he said out loud, happy to notice the change. It was so much better than what she had said the day before.

Keller looked past him at the Colonel. "Yeah, Amy was …." She moved to the side of Sheppard's bed and frowned. "He really does, doesn't he?" She sounded confused.

"Is that a bad thing?" Ronon asked.

Keller was no longer paying him attention but was busily scanning the machines stationed around his bed. She said something to Amy, ordering her to go get something that registered on Ronon as medical gibberish. She was immediately the professional nurse with a purpose, gone was the nervousness. He watched her go then turned back to Keller who had moved on to pressing her stethoscope against the side of Sheppard's chest.

"Dr. Keller?" Ronon prompted an answer.

"Oh, what? Uh, not usually," she managed to answer his earlier question with obvious distraction.

Not usually? That didn't make any sense. Last night she'd said he wasn't doing so good. This morning he looked a lot better. He was breathing and the noises the machines were making sounded normal. But Keller looked like she didn't like what she was finding with her tests. The more things she checked, the more worried she looked.

"Is something wrong?" he demanded louder than he really needed to.

Keller looked sharply up at him, startled. "Nothing is wrong, and that definitely isn't right."

"What does that mean?" Ronon was confused, and it was beginning to make him angry. And why wasn't Sheppard waking up considering all of the activity that was going on around him?

"I don't know, yet."

"Why isn't he waking up?" Ronon asked.

Keller paused and looked up at him. "I don't know that yet, either."


	6. Chapter 6

_A/N: This story has been languishing on my hard drive for over a year because I was unhappy with it. Today I decided to pull it out, read it and finish it. To my surprise it is 99.5 % finished. All that is required is a bit of I dotting and T crossing. Four chapters remain, including this one. I'll edit and post one a day over the next few days and put this puppy to bed. If any one is still reading this one, thanks for your incredible patience!_

CHAPTER SIX

Richard Woolsey took a deep breath as he stood before the inactive Atlantis gate. "It seems like just yesterday that we were standing in this same position waiting to negotiate with the Omari chieftains," he said dryly to Major Lorne who stood alongside him.

"Yesterday we were bearing arms instead of gifts," Lorne replied in a low tone.

Woolsey glanced toward him with a raised brow. Though the major was dressed in denim and a long sleeved flannel shirt, he had no doubt that there was a weapon concealed under there somewhere. Even Teyla, busy double checking the satchels of items for the Omari, carried at least two knives within the folds of her traditional Athosian garb.

"I mean, obvious arms," Lorne corrected himself.

Richard understood his frustration. As Sheppard's second in command, and especially as Sheppard was out of commission for the time being, it was the major's responsibility to ensure the safety of the expedition. He had been against this endeavor from the moment Teyla had revealed that they would need to show a complete lack of aggression during the negotiations for Doctors Kremer and Bowen.

"Yesterday," Teyla spoke from a position just behind him, "we were requesting permission to search for our missing team members on their sacred mountain. At that time, their transgression was only a possibility that they assumed would be dealt with by their Guardian. Today, things have changed."

Having completed her task, she moved to stand alongside him. "I am hopeful that this matter can be completed quickly so that we all may return home together."

"Agreed." Richard could not argue with that sentiment. He turned toward the control room and ordered the technician to dial the Omari home world.

Teyla and Lorne each grasped a large satchel containing the goods for the Omari people and stepped into the event horizon. Transit was everything he hated and secretly feared. He always closed his eyes before stepping through.

He reached the other side with the usual feeling of disorientation and displacement. A movement at his right and left caused his eyes to fly wide. Suddenly, Lorne was reaching for something. Richard could only assume it for was the aforementioned concealed weapon. One of Teyla's knives was in her hand, already half raised when she jerked as if struck by something. In the next moment, the same happened to Lorne. They both dropped to the ground, their weapons in the grass near them.

Richard looked upward in time to come face to face with the business end of an Omari spear. The warrior behind the spear did not look as if he might have any qualms about using his weapon.

Richard raised his hands.

hr

"Hello, luv," Carson Beckett greeted Jennifer Keller as he walked into the Atlantis infirmary. As many villagers as he tended throughout the Pegasus Galaxy, Atlantis always felt like coming home, even more so than going back to Earth to visit his mum.

"Carson!" Jennifer looked up from one of the scanning consoles as if he had just popped in out of thin air. "I'm so glad you're here."

"It's good to be here, lass, but I'm sure it's hardly a surprise." He was pretty certain he'd told her after his last visit that he would back to pick up a few supplies this week. After all, the Daedalus should have been by recently to restock the city's stores. Granted, he couldn't be held to a date, but he was fairly close to on schedule.

"Sorry. With all the excitement, your visit slipped my mind," she said sheepishly. "But now that you're here, I could really use a consult."

Carson glanced about the place, noting that little had changed since his last visit. The curtains were semi-drawn around the bed at the far end of the infirmary. He assumed that meant that there was a patient, but other than that business seemed slow.

"Who's the consult for?" he asked, dropping his back pack on one of the stools in the corner.

"Colonel Sheppard."

"What's he done, now?"

"Healed – almost miraculously."

"Oh, bugger." That was almost never good – especially in Sheppard's case. "Did you run the Iratus tests?"

"Just got the results. They were negative."

"We should run them again. Just to be certain."

hr

Evan opened his eyes to see something tan and out of focus near his face. He blinked, confused, hoping that squinting might clear things up. The haziness resolved into several dozen fuzzy legs crawling quickly across the patch of tan. He jerked backward, slamming into something round and pliable.

He reached behind himself, and quickly identified the pliable object as one of the duffel bags full of clothing for the village children. The memory of stepping through the gate only to be faced with Omari scouts pointing spears came rushing back.

He moved groggily to his feet, taking stock of his surroundings. Whatever was on the tip of the dart they'd hit him with sure packed a wallop. It was several moments before the room settled down enough for him to really focus. A brownish blur coalesced into rough wooden walls and a low ceiling. Blankets, bags of what looked like grain and other dry goods were stacked neatly along the sides of the rough building.

Familiar smells reached him, reminding him of the roasted meats the Omari cooked in the early hours of the day. Voices and the sounds of approaching footfalls accompanied the smells. He reached for his weapon just as the leather flap that made up the door was thrown back. His hand found only empty space.

"Good – they told me you were awake. How are you feeling?" Mr. Woolsey stood before him, looking as if he was trying very hard to pretend that there weren't three armed Omari scouts standing right behind him.

Evan brought his arm back to his side. _No weapons here, Mr. Scout. Just scratching my back_. "Like someone got the drop on me. What happened? Where's Teyla? I thought she said these people were reasonable."

"It appears that both your and Teyla's reflexes were your downfall. They responded to your perceived threat by shooting you and Teyla with darts containing a sedative agent."

"You weren't hit?" Evan asked, then immediately regretted it.

"No," Woolsey made a face. "Apparently I don't have reflexes."

Lorne schooled his features. This was hardly a laughing matter. "Where's Teyla?"

"Teyla has been taken captive and confined with Doctors Kremer and Bowen. It appears that during their initial interog … er … discussion with the esteemed chieftains of this village, she, Doctor McKay, Colonel Sheppard and Ronon were identified as having trespassed upon the Guardian mountain. Their presence has been requested as a part of the hearing as well."

"You have told them that Colonel Sheppard is a little under the weather at the moment?" Evan asked. He'd made a trip to the infirmary to check in on his commanding officer the night before. He hadn't looked very well.

"Of course I have," Woolsey replied. "Teyla feels certain that if Ronon and McKay arrive as requested and undergo questioning, things will work in our favor."

Evan fought the urge to roll his eyes. "So, you want me to go back to the city, pick up Ronon and McKay and just deliver them back here?" Teyla was a great negotiator and she knew these people, but getting shot by a poison dart had really put a damper on his desire to give them the benefit of the doubt. Never mind that giving the kidnappers exactly what they wanted seemed like a really bad plan. "And what about you? Are you being held, too?" He looked significantly at the guards.

Woolsey glanced back at them. "I'm here to negotiate for the release of our people. Part of that negotiation is that I am to allow you to return to the city to deliver the status of our situation." He then paused, giving Evan a very direct stare. "Your orders, Major, are to return to the city and apprise them of our situation and then _do your job_, in accordance with all of our mission directives." One of his brows rose slightly as he spoke.

"Yes, sir." Evan nodded slowly. He understood what Woolsey didn't say out loud. As Atlantis' temporary military commander, it was his job to come up with a back up plan in case Teyla's went sideways. And oh, by the way, don't mess up the mineral rights deal we're hoping for if you can manage it. Nothing like having one's hands tied.

He gestured in the direction of the large scouts who were currently barring the only exit. "I can just go now?" he asked.

"These gentleman will escort you to the gate." Woolsey gestured toward his three oversized friends.

"I don't suppose they'll be returning my side arm?" he asked hopefully. That gun was his personal weapon and would be a pain to replace long distance.

"Not at the moment, no," Woolsey said dryly. "But I'll be sure to make it a part of my negations. Teyla has already expressed an interest in the return of both her knives."

Evan wasn't sure if he was serious. "All right, then. Commencing doing my job." _Without a weapon. For now_. He stepped through the opening in the tent with the scouts on his six. As they headed out of the village, he began to plan.

hr

_He looked down at Jaron, the man who had been Guardian for many, many days. Hair that had once been raven dark was now streaked with white. This man had become his friend. _

"_It is no longer safe." Jaron's gaze was fixed skyward, tracking the growing screams of the enemy ships. Their unnaturally lighted vessels wound through the trees in gathering dusk even as the phantom whispers of their mind-song danced at the edge of his perception. Pushing the alien voices away, he focused on his friend. _

"_I have been called back," Jaron continued. "Until I return, you are the guardian. The things you and your brothers have seen and collected will be useful in our struggles against the Wraith and others. It must be protected. Guard well, my friend."_

_Jaron rested a trembling hand against his feathered breast and mind-sang the next words. "Until I return." _

_As was his way, he sought to offer support, a lessening of his friend's pain, but the man let go. And then he was gone, moving down the side of the mountain, his long robes billowing behind him._

_He remained still upon the mountain as he had been taught, watching over the domain that Jaron had placed in his care. Cries of fear and pain echoed in his ears, and still he waited, immobile as stone. He did not know how to help them; he could only watch and wait in the darkness, overwhelmed by the chaos, fear and pain that stretched long into the night. _

_And then, at last, when the barest hint of sunlight reflected over the horizon, the last enemy ship disappeared from his world. Weighted by sorrow, he took to the skies to survey the damage. _

_A world once lush with life was ashes and fire. The enemy had left only destruction in its wake. Moving beyond the smoldering remnants of the village, something very near the stargate caught his eye. It billowed brightly in the wind against the dried husk of a desiccated corpse. He dropped to the surface alongside the one who had once been his friend. A bracelet of interlocking black and blue-green stone lay upon the remains of the bony wrist, confirming the identity. _

_With an echoing screech of sorrow that only he could hear, he cried for the loss. After long moments, he gathered the bracelet into his beak and made his way back to the hold. As was his duty, he added the memory of these events to the others. _

_His brothers joined him there, and as they gathered around the Lake of Reflection, it was decided that they would spread throughout this world, watching and waiting for a new human guardian to come. One with a spirit like Jaron who would be both guardian and friend. _

"Colonel Sheppard?"

John blinked his eyes open, startled at the different reality before him. The bright light of the infirmary was at odds with the early pre-dawn light of the Omari sky. The hazy rippling reflection of a darkly feathered head coalesced into the concerned expression of Doctor Jennifer Keller. Standing just over her shoulder was Carson Beckett, looking pensive and worried.

"How are you feeling?" Keller asked, concern heavy in her tone.

John sniffed, drew in a trembling breath and froze. Horror washed over him as he lifted a hand to his face and encountered wetness. Was he crying?

(to be continued)


	7. Chapter 7

CHAPTER SEVEN

"Lad? How are you feeling?" Carson gently repeated Keller's earlier question.

John locked a bewildered gaze onto the other man's. "Confused?" The word came out as more of a croak than actual language. He tried to clear his parched throat.

"Aye. That's understandable," Carson acknowledged as he poured, then extended, a cup of water. "What do you remember?"

As John took the cup, things started to come back to him – like the fact that his last conscious thought was laying in that very bed with a chest tube stuck in his side. Rodney, Ronon, and Teyla had been there, too. They had been talking about the mission that was the cause of the chest tube situation.

"John?" Carson's voice sounded, and John blinked. He had paused with the cup half to his mouth.

John took a quick sip of the water trying to cover the lapse, not minding that it was mostly lukewarm. "Thanks, Carson," he said softly, glad to hear his voice was better. More memories continued to flood in. "I remember that you weren't here before," he gestured at Carson.

"Och, that's because I wasn't here," Carson replied. "I only arrived a couple hours ago. Jennifer here asked for a consult on your case."

John glanced around at the machines, he had hazy recollections of them from the last time he'd been awake. They appeared to all be in their previous spots, doing their previous jobs. The chest tube was gone; a thick white bandage was taped to the area.

"A consult?" Carson's words caught up to John and stopped him in his mental tracks. That sounded like something that required more than just run-of-the-mill medical care. Consult translated into serious infirmary time, and just the thought stirred something deep within him. It niggled at the edges of his subconscious.

"Do you know why you're here? In the infirmary?" Keller asked.

John eyed her as his memory continued to catch up to the rest of him. What came back returned in vivid Technicolor, reminding him of what a rough couple of days he must have had. "Uh . . . jumper crash, couple busted ribs. There might have been something about a lake." And a bird, who seemed to have gotten into his head. But he wasn't sure it was in his best interest to say that part of it out loud. "I feel fine now, though," he added, surprised at the realization. He was feeling better by the minute. "When can I leave?"

Carson and Keller simultaneously donned individual annoyed doctor expressions. Carson pursed his lips and Keller pierced him with a look. "Do I need to remind you that less than twenty four hours ago, you were wheeled into the infirmary with a hemothorax, three fractured ribs, blunt force trauma to your chest with extensive bruising, a concussion and let's not forget having your lungs filled with lake water? I had to resuscitate you twice."

John looked between the two of them, decided they both needed to lighten up. "I might be a little bit hazy on a few details, but I do remember that it was _breathable_ lake water," he said.

Keller didn't look impressed. "Some of which was still in your lungs when you arrived; complicating your case."

"But, I _feel_ fine," John insisted. "As long as you're not about to tell me that I've got re-activated Iratus DNA floating around in my blood, I think I'll be okay."

"There's no sign of Iratus DNA – I double checked," Carson assured him. "But the point Jennifer is trying to make is that by all rights, you should still have a chest tube in you." He gestured toward the white bandage taped to John's side. "As it is, the puncture site itself is practically healed after less than an hour. Miraculous recoveries don't fill us with confidence."

John glared at the two of them for a long moment. This was ridiculous. He felt perfectly fine, and not in the hopped up, I've-got-Iratus-DNA-running-through-my-veins way he had felt after Elia had tried to feed on him. Aside from growing hunger and thirst, he felt as if he'd just awakened from the best sleep he'd had in his life.

"Look. I'm good. I don't know why, but I am." Maybe a demonstration would get his point across. He pushed himself up into a sitting position, and moved to pull back the blankets that covered his lower body.

"Whoa! Colonel, no!" Both doctors objected immediately.

Under normal circumstances, John might have took the time to argue further, but that feeling in the back of his mind was continuing to grow. He really needed to get out of here.

"Are we interrupting something?" A smug voice sounded above the fray.

John looked past the two angry doctors at McKay and Ronon standing between the parted curtains. They looked entirely too amused. He allowed himself to be settled back against the pillows.

"I take it the two of you noticed that the curtains were closed before you stepped through them," Carson said in their general direction, his annoyance showing.

"We did," Rodney confirmed, his grin growing. "We didn't care. Carry on."

"Don't you have someplace else to be, Rodney?" Carson asked tiredly.

"Nope. No place else. When one team member is down, it's up to the rest of the team to . . . pick him back up." Rodney looked proud of himself for coming up with that one.

"Thanks," John said, if only to change the subject. Then, "Where's Teyla?"

"Oh, she's … uh …." Rodney trailed off, shot a glance toward Ronon, then looked anywhere but at John. "She's busy."

John wasn't buying that. He locked his gaze on Ronon. "Where's Teyla?"

Ronon didn't hesitate. "She's with Woolsey trying to get Kremer and Bowen back."

John was confused. "From where?" He had a hazy, yet distinct recollection of he and the rest of the team accompanying the scientists out of the Omari mountain. It had to be some kind of record for the both of them to be lost again so soon.

"From the Omari home world," Ronon said.

"Granted I've been in the infirmary for the last little while, but didn't we already find them?"

"We did, but we left them on the side of the mountain so that they could meet up with Lorne's team. Unfortunately, they met up with Omari warriors instead. They were taken into custody for trespassing into Guardian territory."

"We went there to find them," John said. "Why would you leave them behind?"

Rodney shared an uncomfortable look with Ronon. Then, "Because there were only four birds and six people. Kremer and Bowen insisted that we go. We knew Lorne was near by."

John still didn't understand.

"Look, we thought you were dying, okay?" Rodney exclaimed. "We … none of us wanted to stay behind if …."

John got it. "Well … why didn't anyone tell me what was going on last night?" he asked, shifting gears. He was military commander; he shouldn't be out of the loop of something like this. He was the one who was responsible for bringing Bowen and Kremer home. It was ultimately his responsibility that they had not made it back.

"In case you don't recall, you hadn't done your miraculous healing thing yet," Rodney told him. "And you could barely keep your eyes open. Besides, Teyla and Woolsey are all over it." He dismissed the situation like it was a done deal.

John pierced him with a look. "Something could go wrong," he insisted. Rodney had been in the Pegasus Galaxy just as long as he had. Murphy's Law ruled. Anything that could go wrong, would go hellishly wrong, in spades, wielding a chainsaw. Hadn't the last mission alone proved that?

"Well, yeah," Rodney conceded the point. "But what would you do about it? Show up with a wheel chair and a P-90?"

"If I had to, yes," John said.

Keller cleared her throat. "Not this time, Colonel."

John shot her a look. Why was everyone ganging up on him? The need to do something was so strong that it was beginning to set his nerves on edge. "I'm just saying that –

"It's done, son. Let it go," Carson urged him. "Getting your pressure up might de-rail your healing process."

"I thought you said I was healed except for the pesky hole that's well on its way." John looked at him suspiciously.

Carson opened his mouth to speak, but Rodney cut him off. "If you'd just shut up for a second, Ronon and I will explain what we think has all you medical types scratching your heads."

John fought the urge to continue arguing. He really wanted out of the infirmary. He hated feeling helpless. Worse, he hated feeling fine but being forced to sit on the sidelines. If Rodney had something that could get him out of here with less of a fight, he was all for it. "Okay. What do you have?"

Rodney grinned and placed his laptop on the bed and spun it so that everyone could see it. "We got the results back from Geology a little while ago. I think there is much more to the Omari world than mineral T-9. The water that you were dunked in has healing properties, and not just for the birds, but for humans, too. Take a look."

He tapped several keys and a diagram showed on the screen. "These appear to be self-directed organic particles. They act very much like nanites. They were still active in the fluid in our sample containers yesterday, but they appear to loose effectiveness over time. By this morning, most of the observable new particles were inactive."

"How can you be sure it works for humans, too?" Carson asked. "Never mind that I'd love to get a closer look at these birds."

"Well, ask Ronon here," McKay gestured at their tall Satedan friend.

"I hurt my shoulder yesterday," Ronon said. "When I saw how fast it healed the bird, I thought I'd try it. I poured some on it. Nothing happened so I forgot about it. Then last night, my arm felt kind of weird and hurt a lot. But when I woke up this morning, everything was fine. It felt better than it did before we left on the mission."

"And I," McKay jumped back in, pointing at the colorful scratches still visible on his face and arms, "didn't use it. Still scarred." John had never seen McKay so happy to have visible injuries.

"Perhaps that is what happened with you, Colonel," Carson said.

"So no more need to triple check the Iratus thing?" John asked. "I can leave now? The bird seemed fine and was flying around after crashing into the jumper."

"I'm certain that your physiology is entirely different from that of the bird. Besides, I'm sure we've not done more than cursory tests. It's even more necessary that we keep you for observation. We need to know –"

"I'm not going to be a guinea pig, Carson," John insisted. Seriously, this was ridiculous. It was a conspiracy to keep him here.

"No one's asking you to be a test subject, son. But the fact of the matter is, your injuries were significantly different than Ronon's and …."

John looked up as Lorne stepped into his curtained area and came to an abrupt stop. There was an air of urgency about him that put John on high alert.

"Major?" He asked, cutting off whatever Carson was trying to say. Carson's words trailed off and he turned, following John's intent gaze.

"I thought you were with Teyla and Woolsey," Rodney blurted.

Lorne gave McKay a hard look, and then took in all the other eyes that were watching him before settling on John. "Teyla and Woolsey are still on the Omari world. Teyla has been taken captive."

"What?!" McKay demanded. "What happened?"

John didn't take his eyes off Lorne, but waited stonily quiet to hear the rest.

"Both Teyla and I were taken out with blow darts when we went through. When I woke up, Woolsey told me that the Omari learned that the four of you went into their mountain. Woolsey told them that you had injuries that didn't allow you to come. But they are insisting that Ronon and McKay come back for the hearing.

"Woolsey told me to come back, let you know what's going on and get a team together for an extraction, if need be."

"Have you already picked your team?" John asked as he tossed back the covers and went to work disconnecting himself from the various bits of medical equipment that were attached to him.

"What do you think you're doing?" Keller demanded, working her way toward the bed.

John looked past her and waited for Lorne's response.

"Yes, sir. They're getting kitted up now."

"What's your plan?" John asked, and then listened intently as his second in command gave him the reader's digest version.

"Good. I'd like to make one small modification. When the team is gathered, have them meet me in the jumper bay."

"Yes, sir." Lorne turned and left.

He shot a glance toward Ronon and McKay. They understood without words and set off to get ready to go get Teyla. When they'd gone, he turned to face Keller.

"You're not in any condition to leave, Colonel."

"I'm going to get my people," he said. It really was as simple as that. There was absolutely no way he could just lay around here while the rest of his team turned themselves in to the natives because of a mission that he had authorized.

"You're still under observation in this infirmary. We don't know what type of consequences that water could have on your system."

"Doc, I'm not asking for permission." He had given up arguing that he felt fine because obviously neither she nor Carson was willing to listen to that.

"You really should listen to her, John," Carson said, gently. "We don't just say these things to make your life difficult or to interfere with military action. We genuinely are trying to look out for your well being to the best of our ability."

John looked at the two of them. "Well then, come with me," he said. "That way you can keep an eye on me. Besides, you said you wanted to see those birds. Well, maybe you'll get your chance."

Carson opened his mouth to argue, and then looked toward Keller. Some kind of silent communication went on between the two of them, and then Keller's shoulders sagged as she gave up.

"Fine," she said, and then started in on a list of do's and don'ts. John nodded in all the right places, and within two minutes, he was on his way to a uniform and the weapons locker. There was work to be done.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

Rodney waited alongside Ronon in the jumper bay. Lorne's team of marines was off to one side, talking amongst themselves. Lorne himself had yet to arrive. "I thought Teyla said we had to approach peacefully," Rodney said, gesturing toward Ronon's holster and his big blaster.

"Sheppard's going," Ronon replied.

"Right. Good point," Rodney agreed. Sheppard would not be leaving without his trusty P-90 and hand gun. With the special water thrown into the pot along with mineral T-9, Rodney hoped they managed to get something out of the deal with the Omari. But then, there was always the Daedalus. If they could figure a way through the sensory soup on the planet's surface, they could beam people directly onto the mountain and the Omari would be none the wiser.

Sheppard appeared, walking alongside Carson and Lorne. The three of them were geared up and ready for off world. "As soon as you get to the other side of the wormhole, keep the jumper cloaked and land. Do not fly around, you won't know the birds are there until you're right on them. Put down as close as you can to the village – hopefully it'll be enough so that our radios will work."

"Got it," Lorne acknowledged.

"What about me?" Carson asked, half a step behind Sheppard. His familiar medical back pack was strapped to his shoulders, looking a lot more beat up from its time in the Pegasus Galaxy.

John turned toward him. "You stay in the jumper with Lorne."

"Now, Colonel …."

"Carson, I'll be in visual range. You can still keep an eye on me."

Rodney snorted and turned to Ronon. "Care to wager how long that's going to last?"

"I can hear you, McKay," Sheppard said as he approached.

"So can I," Carson called from the ramp of the jumper.

"It's not exactly a secret!" Rodney shot back.

"Come on," John said, headed for the steps that would lead to the control room and then to the gate. "Let's go get Teyla."

"And Woolsey and Bowen and Kremer," Rodney tacked on as he and Ronon jogged along behind him.

"Yeah, yeah. Them, too."

* * *

The Omari holding cell was little more than a cave dug into the side of a grassy hill. A wooden frame supported the inside of it. Long, rough-carved wooden slats secured the opening and allowed light and air inside. Richard stood on one side of the barred opening while Teyla stood on the other. Kremer and Bowen were settled in separate corners farther back in the cave eating the meal the Omari had provided for them. Richard had a feeling one or both of them would be asking for a transfer if and when they returned to Atlantis.

"Any idea what's going on over there?" he asked Teyla as they watched several excited scouts ran into the town center, shouting for the tribal chieftains. The three elderly men who made up the main ruling body appeared from inside the central building and approached the newcomers. There was a lot of gesturing and arms waved in the direction of the dark mountain that the villagers called Guardian.

Teyla shook her head. "I cannot hear what they are saying from here. But it no doubt has something to do with the mountain."

He was beginning to develop an even worse feeling about the situation than he'd previously had. "The question is whether that is a good thing or a bad thing."

"I think we are about to find out." Teyla's gaze remained locked at a point to the left of the village center.

Confused, Richard noticed that whatever had captured Teyla's attention, was also affecting the people who had been previously moving about the village engaged in whatever tasks villagers engaged in. As if by some mutual signal, they had all ceased their activities and were looking toward the edge of the forest.

At first, he wasn't sure exactly what they all found so interesting, but then a subtle movement caught his eye. Once he saw the motion, he saw the structure. It blended almost perfectly into the backdrop of tree and mountainside. An inner flap was thrown back and a man stepped through and began to make his way toward the village proper.

"Who is he?" he asked Teyla. The new man wasn't especially large, but he had a very strong presence. Even from fifty yards away, Richard could tell that this man held power among the people. He needed to know as much as he could before the hearings began.

"I have never seen him before," Teyla surprised him by saying.

Several more scouts entered the village, moving quickly. Richard squinted, then stood up straighter. "I think those might be the same men who escorted Major Lorne back to the gate. Do you think something happened to him?"

"If so, they would have brought his body back with them."

Richard didn't feel comforted by that thought. He felt even less comforted as in the course of the conversation the unhappy, excitable group looked toward he and Teyla. When the man from the dark tent turned and began to make purposeful strides toward the holding cell, the rest of the group followed.

"Dial it again!" John called up to Chuck and Rodney as he paced beneath the control room, waiting for Atlantis to get a lock on the Omari gate address. He glanced upward at the bottom of jumper as he waited. The ship was hovering just above the still-open jumper bay access door.

The last three times they had dialed the system had not been able to engage. After the second time, to Chuck's displeasure, Rodney had gone up to make sure Chuck was dialing correctly.

This time the symbols obediently lit up, but after the seventh symbol was input, the gate wound down, unable to lock in the coordinates. "Obviously still nothing!" Rodney called down unnecessarily.

"Is it possible they're trying to dial us?" Ronon asked.

John looked upward at Rodney, waiting for the answer to Ronon's question. He was beyond annoyed to be stuck here waiting when they were needed on the other side of the gate.

"I doubt it," Rodney replied. "But let's wait and see shall we if anyone tries to get through to us."

"Lorne, stand by," John said into his radio before settling in impatiently for the wait.

"Standing by," Lorne replied.

A full minute passed while John considered all of the things that could be going wrong out there. He did a mental calculation of how long it might take to the get the Daedalus, currently three days out from Atlantis, to the Omari world. The answer wasn't reassuring.

"Okay, that's enough," he decided. "Try it again."

The lit symbols again made their circuit around the face of the gate. The seventh symbol illuminated, and the coordinates locked with a satisfying clunk. The expected whoosh of energy appeared before collapsing back into the placid blue of the puddle.

"About time," he muttered before tapping his radio and connecting with Lorne. "Okay, Major. Time to execute. Remember, go in low. Land as soon as you can as close to the village as you can."

"Acknowledged," Lorne's voice sounded in his ear even as the jumper continued its descent into the control room. John watched as the ship began to cloak halfway through the puddle.

He wondered at the irony that during their last mission, when they had gone to the Omari world to find the then missing Doctor's Bowen and Kremer, Lorne had been on the ground, while John and his team had been in the cloaked jumper. Today, the roles were reversed. He wondered what bearing that might have on the success of the mission.

"Coast is clear, Colonel. Jumper two holding then proceeding to landing site." Lorne's voice sounded across the radio link through the wormhole just as Rodney fell in along side Ronon on John's left side. The three of them stepped through the gate together and emerged to mid-morning on Omari.

"Well, no one is shooting darts at us. That's a positive," Rodney murmured.

John half-glanced in his direction, then focused on the large dark mountain before them. From the first moment he'd set eyes on it, he'd had a feeling about it; something he couldn't put a name to. It had bugged him then; it bugged him now.

But, as he stood there, staring at the mountain, something tickled at the edges of his consciousness. It was a feeling like an insistent ant crawling across his skin. It wouldn't go away. Suddenly the memory of a dream returned, of this world, decimated after a Wraith attack. Everything was death and ashes in early pre-dawn light, but something had glistened against the landscape.

John looked toward the object and the twilight of the dream gave way to the brilliance of mid morning.

"Are we just going to stand here?" McKay's voice snapped him out of the vision … dream … whatever it had been, but not before he saw something peaking through the tall grass near the DHD.

He moved forward a few steps and stooped to pick it up. It was a strip of leather-like material woven through with bits of polished black and green stone. It had belonged to Jaron.

"What's that?" Rodney moved up behind him.

John slipped it into his pocket. "Let's go," he said, and then set off toward the village.

"Hey, wait a minute … you can't just …."

John kept walking.

* * *

Richard shifted closer to Teyla, even though she was on the opposite side of what amounted to wooden bars. The Omari who had thus far seemed somewhat reasonable now seemed to be forming a lynch mob.

The man from the dark tent was in the lead and came to a stop directly in front of Richard. No emotion could be read on his stoic features; his expression was completely unreadable. After several moments of silence, Richard stuck out his hand.

"I'm Richard Woolsey. Leader of Atlantis. Pleased to make your acquaintance."

The man did not speak, but pointed in the direction of the wooden bars. Two of the scouts immediately went to work at removing them.

"If we are to start the hearing now, I'll need to know what to call you," Richard tried again as Teyla and the doctors were led out of the holding cell.

"You may call me Emoktuk. I am a hearer of the moods of the guardian. Through that gift, I guide this people."

Richard nodded his understanding – a spiritual leader then. "Will you be the one to conduct the hearing?" he asked. Emoktuk had intimidation down to an art form.

"I will decipher the Guardian's feeling in this matter. Will your people abide by my decision?"

Richard blinked. He didn't think 'that depends on your decision' was what Emoktuk wanted to hear. "What will your decision be based on?" he asked instead.

"The Guardian must decide. I merely speak for him."

"Shouldn't we wait for the others? So that they can speak for themselves?"

"It is no longer necessary. The Guardian has already spoken."

Richard blinked. "What did the Guardian say?"

"The Guardian does not speak with words, but the Guardian has expressed displeasure. The watchers saw the ring opening during the night, but no one passed through. And this morning, not long after your messenger left, the ring opened again, but no one passed through. I myself felt Guardian power pass off our world in the night. And today, there is a great disturbance.

"It is your people who have caused this imbalance. If we do not act to right the wrong, the Guardian will leave us forever."

"What are you saying?"

"These must be sacrificed."

"Sacrificed? How sacrificed?"

"We have a drink. You must consume it and then you will sleep the dreamless sleep of eternity."

"No – I'll not be executed for trespassing!" Kremer yelled. "Woolsey, you've got to do something. This is ridiculous."

"You're not going to be executed," Richard snapped.

"You do not respect our beliefs as you would have us think," Emoktuk said.

"I do. But I am a leader like you. I cannot allow you to execute my people for something that is considered a minor infraction on my world. They did not know the severity of the crime."

"Getting started without us?" a voice drawled from behind the crowd of warriors, tribal leaders and by standers. The latter parted to reveal Ronon Dex, Dr. McKay and Colonel Sheppard standing, in the open.

"John!" Teyla called in amazement.

Richard gaped. The last time he had seen Sheppard, he had been hooked up to a chest tube and monitoring equipment in the infirmary. The fit looking man standing before him was not the same one who had been lying on the gate room floor less than twenty-four hours earlier.

"I got better," Sheppard replied. "Rodney will explain later."

"Later may not be possible Colonel."

"Oh, yeah? Why's that?"

"Emoktuk here is the spiritual leader of the Omari people. He believes that we have offended the Guardian and for that yourself, Doctor's Bowen and Kremer, Teyla Ronon and McKay must die."


End file.
